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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Model Shipways Ben Latham - Built by Gary Cox

Here's another example of Gary Cox's exemplary work - this is his Ben Latham by Model Shipways. The Benjamin W. Latham is an outstanding example of a turn-of-the-century Grand Banks fisherman. Built in the Tarr & James yard at Essex, MA in 1902, she sailed out of Noank, CT as a mackerel steiner. From 1906 to the end of her career, she operated as a dory trawler out of New York's Fulton Fish Market. She was lost off the coast of San Juan in 1943.

The Model Shipways Benjamin W. Latham model is a joy to build, and the large, 1/4 scale allows for lots of detail. All wooden parts, including the false keel and 14-piece bulkhead set, are laser cut. The Ben Latham kit contains basswood planking for the hull and deck, and plenty of strip stock for timberheads, monkey boards, riding bitts and deck pads. Basswood is also supplied for deck cabins, hatches and chain boxes. Wooden blocks and deadeyes number over 100, and rigging comes in three diameters. You'll find brass eyebolts, chainplates and strop rings. The Britannia metal fitting set is one of the most comprehensive we've ever compiled, including windlass parts, anchors, bilge pumps, props, exhaust pipes, fiferails and smokeheads.

One of the most remarkable features of our Model Shipways Benjamin W. Latham is an authentic plank-on-bulkhead seine boat. You'll build it upside down on a set of formers, just like the real thing! Sail cloth for a full complement of sail completes the kit. Smithsonian Institute supplement original plans by Erik A. R. Ronnberg, Jr., for a total of six sheets. Updated 48 page instruction book leaves no construction detail unexplained.